Ink and Petals
by Btvsobsessed623
Summary: Got the idea from the Tumblr post about a tattoo shop next to a flower shop. Regina purchases the flower shop next door to the tattoo shop Emma works at and they don't quite get along at first
1. Chapter 1

AN: Thank you so much to my beta/cheerleader, keepapplesaday, without whom this fic would not have happened.

Big thanks to forgetthesun, who did the art for this fic!

This was written for the Swan Queen Big Bang Three Dollar Bill Bang.

*inserts standard "I don't own the characters" disclaimer*

* * *

"Come onnnn Emma!"

"No."

"But you're a tattoo artist! How can you be a tattoo artist without any tattoos?!" It was a slow day and Ruby had decided to engage in one of her favorite pastimes; try to convince Emma to let Ruby tattoo her.

Emma let out a frustrated sigh and held up her wrist, showing Ruby the small flower tattoo. "I have one."

"That barely counts! Let me tattoo you!"

"No! I don't even know what I want!"

"I can pick something. A nice tribal band perhaps?" Ruby laughed and Emma threw a balled up piece of paper at her.

"If I have one more socks and sandals, visor-wearing, 'bro' come in here and ask for a tribal, I'm going to scream"

"Why? It's easy money."

Emma glared. "I'm not justifying that with a response." She checked the clock above her station and sighed. "Do you have ANY appointments today?"

"No, Emma, for the millionth time, I do not have any appointments." Ruby said exasperated.

Emma sighed again, a dramatic, over the top sigh and got up. "I'm going next door, be right back."

Emma walked out and took a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful day before stepping into Game of Thorns, the flower shop next door to Big Bad Wolf Tattoo. It was convenient to have the florist there so they had real flowers for reference and it helped bring business. When she walked in she made a beeline for the asters and picked a pink one out that looked good.

"Hey Moe? I'm borrowing an aster. I'll bring it back before close, I promise!" With flower in hand, Emma turned to walk out the door but a woman's voice stopped her.

"I beg your pardon?" Emma looked up towards the back of the store where she saw a gorgeous Latina woman behind the counter. The woman was glaring at her, hand on her hips, waiting for an answer.

"Oh. I thought Moe was here, I was just going to borrow this..." Emma held up the flower to show the woman what she had and looked around the store. Moe was nowhere to be seen, which was unusual, he was always there. "Where is he?"

"Mr. French sold this shop to me the other week. I'm the new owner," Said the woman matter-of-factly.

Emma nearly dropped the flower in shock, "What the fuck?! He sold the shop?!"

"I don't understand the need for obscenities, Miss..."

"Swan, Emma."

"Miss Swan. But as I said, Mr. French sold me the shop. I don't know what kind of arrangement the two of you had, but in my shop, the only way a flower leaves is if it's paid for."

"Come on! He must have mentioned us next door! We come in all the time!"

The woman gestured to the register and then crossed her arms, the look on her face indicating there would be no discussion and the matter was over.

Emma set the flower back in its container, threw her arms up in frustration and stormed out of the shop, letting the door slam.

***************  
The new owner stared at the space where Emma had been standing and held her posture for a few moments before finally relaxing. She hadn't noticed her friend and co-owner, Kathryn, come out onto the sales floor until she spoke.

"You know, Regina, I distinctly remember Moe telling us about the tattoo shop next door that his daughter works at and how he lets the artists borrow flowers." She looked at Regina with an amused look.

"As do I, he mentioned it between telling us about the back door and how finicky it can be when you try to close it and how we shouldn't bother keeping regular hours several days before Valentine's Day." She turned and smiled at Kathryn "It was just more fun to handle it this way. Besides, do we want _those_ people in the store?"

"'Those people?' Really? They're tattoo artists, not criminals. You're channeling your mother a little there." Kathryn had said it playfully but the glare from Regina indicated that it wasn't well received so she quickly added, "You know, I think I'm going to go finish up unpacking the new shipment," and darted into the back room.

Regina was left to her own thoughts and headed over to where the aster that Emma had put back was. To Regina's annoyance, Emma had haphazardly returned the flower and Regina had to fix it.

Emma stormed back into the tattoo shop "HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME MOE SOLD THE SHOP?!"

Both Lacey and Ruby looked at Emma confused. Ruby replied first, "Dude, you were right here when Lacey told us about it. It was like a week before you went on vacation."

"No you didn't! Are you sure you didn't just _think_ about telling me but hadn't gotten around to it?"

Lacey answered, "No, I told you both at the same time." Then her eyes got really big, "Ohhhhhhhhhh. Rubes, do you remember that day?"

It took a moment for Ruby to realize what Lacey was talking about, "Ohh! That was the day the hot blonde and her sister came in!" Lacey smiled and nodded. Ruby turned to Emma, "You remember her, don't ya? Spent a while talking to them and giving them a "consult.'"

Emma started to turn red and mumbled "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do!" The blonde was wearing that low cut top. They wanted to do something simple, like a snowflake or something, but for some reason it took like an hour?"

"They wanted white ink, I was explaining some of the issues with that."

"Riiight" Ruby replied. "Last time I discussed white ink with a customer, it took like 15 minutes, but maybe I wasn't as thorough as you were. Do you want to go over it together so I know I'm not missing anything?" Ruby winked at her.

Emma gave Ruby a playful shove and then headed over to her station while Ruby headed to the lounge area they had in the shop. Emma's only appointment was with a wannabe pirate who wanted a nautical tattoo, but he couldn't decide on what. She wanted to add some more to her sketches before he came in, even though she was pretty sure he would go with something boring and generic, like an anchor. Emma thought about just showing him the Sailor Jerry flash and being done with it, but even if he didn't choose one of her designs, someone else might.

"Hey Lace? What time is my appointment?"

"Uh. Hold on." She heard the clicking from Lacey's keyboard, "He's supposed to be here at 3:00."

"Thanks!" Emma checked the time and noted that she had 10 minutes before her appointment. She decided to straighten up her station and make sure she had everything that she needed, despite already knowing that she had restocked it last night.

"So Emma, what do you think of our new neighbor, Regina?" Ruby had reappeared at her own station, under the guise of getting some work done.

"She's…"

"Hot? Intimidating? Hot?"

"You said hot twice, Ruby."

"I know, I was making a point."

"She's a little intense. She did not like me popping over to borrow a flower."

"Moe probably warned her that you like to take them and then give them back days later when they start to look funny."

"I only did that one time and I paid for it!"

"Yeah, yeah. Bet she'd let me take one."

"You're crazy."

Without another word, Ruby sprung up out of her chair and walked outside.

Five minutes later, Ruby returned with a rose in hand and a huge grin on her face.

"Seriously?!"

"Told you. Moe must have warned her about you." Ruby wasn't going to tell Emma that the reason she got the flower was because she gave a short explanation to the blonde, Kathryn, who worked at the flower shop, not the brunette that got angry with Emma. Kathryn was amused by the entire thing and thought it would be even funnier if Ruby was successful. She did make Ruby promise to return the flower by the end of the day and to make Emma believe that it was Regina who gave her the flower. Ruby half-skipped to the back room of the shop, past the room they used for customers who wanted more privacy when getting tattooed or pierced, and the bathroom. She stopped at the supply closet near the kitchenette to look for one of the many vases they kept in the shop. Ruby found one she liked, filled it up with water and carefully placed the flower in the vase. She walked the flower back up to the front of the store and placed it on Lacey's desk.

Ruby stuck her tongue out at Emma, but before she could respond, the bell on the front door rang. Emma's appointment had arrived, and she groaned internally. She had been half hoping he wouldn't show up, even if it meant that she'd miss out on the money. He was dressed in leather head to toe and walked with a swagger; he was really pushing the pirate thing hard. Not even the Irish accent could help him win some points with Emma, he was that obnoxious.

"Hello, love. I'm here for my appointment with Emma." He smiled at Lacey, trying to be charming but came off skeezy instead.

Lacey got up and pointed to one of the chairs near the front door, "Just have a seat and she'll be right with you." She turned towards Emma and gave her a look that said, 'Please don't drag this on.'

Emma sighed, quiet enough so that only Ruby could hear her, stood up, and walked over to him. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Jones." She wasn't normally this formal with her clients, but she was hoping to set some clear boundaries with him. He had asked her out for a drink twice already and she had turned him down both times.

"Call me Killian, love."

"Only if you stop calling me 'love.'"

"Aye, very well then. What can I call you?"

"Emma works. Shall we get this done?" Emma gestured to her station but Killian didn't move and mimicked the gesture.

"Ladies first."

The second she turned her back, Emma knew that he was looking at her ass. She closed her eyes and quickly counted to ten to avoid turning around and calling him out on it. Most of her clients respected her but she had the occasional one, like the pirate, who didn't seem to understand the meaning of the word.

"So do you have any ideas or are you still good with 'Anything that a pirate would don?'" She used air quotes and Ruby started laughing silently behind Killian.

"I was thinking of a mermaid on my bicep, so that she'd wiggle when I flexed."

Emma had to stop herself from bursting out laughing. She was very sure that her muscles were bigger than his. Thankfully, she had sketched a few mermaids and when she showed him the sketches, he chose one he liked. Naturally, it was the topless one.

Killian signed his consent and rolled up his sleeve. Emma began to prepare the area and when she started to unwrap a disposable razor, he threw his hand up to stop her. "Hey wait a minute, love, what are you doing there?"

Emma was used to this reaction to men who were getting their first tattoos and knew nothing about the process. "Your arm has hair on it, hair gets in way of my tattooing, hair has to go." She replied in a monotone.

"Oh no, I don't shave anywhere but the face." He winked at her and added, "Unless you want me to."

That was enough for Emma. She slammed the razor down, stood up, and pointed to the front door. "Out!"

Killian didn't even register that what he said was inappropriate. "What about my tattoo?"

"I don't care what you get or where, I don't care if it's a topless mermaid or a fucking Rainbow Dash tattoo, get the hell out of this shop because nobody here is tattooing a misogynistic asshole."

"At least let me take you out for dinner, love?"

"Not interested."

"What about a drink then?"

Ruby walked over to stand next to Emma, "She told you she wasn't interested."

Killian looked between the two women, "Ah. I see what's going on. Well loves, if you need a man to show you what you're missing..."

"I'll be sure to find one" Ruby bit back. "Now get out of here and don't ever come back."

"Fine, love, have it your way." Killian got up and walked out, stopping to scribble his number down on a scrap piece of paper and hand it to Lacey with a wink.

Lacey made a show of ripping up the piece of paper and adding his consent form to a folder they kept for blacklisted clientele. She would call a couple of the other shops in the area and give them a heads up about him later.

"Nicely handled, ladies." The three women turned to see Ruby's grandmother and owner of the shop standing near the back room. None of them had noticed her come downstairs, but assumed that she had heard everything. Granny was older, but her hearing was crazy good and she had a knack for showing up downstairs when the more rowdy customers were in the shop.

"Thanks, Granny."

"He was the only appointment on the schedule today, wasn't he?"

Both Ruby and Emma nodded and Granny sighed. "Shame when the assholes are the only ones on the schedule." They moved into the lounge area and Ruby and Emma sat on the couch while Granny sat on the big comfy chair. "You ladies ready for this weekend? $25 piercings above the belt."

Emma had completely forgotten that they were running that special this weekend. It always brought in more customers but sometimes made the first timers really nervous when there was a lot of people coming in and out of the shop. It was worth it to see some of the customer's reactions when they were told Granny was the piercer. She couldn't tattoo anymore because it was too hard on her joints, but she could still pierce.

"You forgot about it didn't you?" Ruby accused Emma.

Emma looked at her sheepishly, "Maybe a little... It's been a nutty day and it's only 3:30, Ruby, give me a break."

"Can you ladies hand out fliers to the businesses around here? You know which ones to pass out to."

"Sure, we can do that tomorrow morning before the shop opens. Maybe Ruby and I can split it up."

"You just don't wanna go into the flower shop."

Granny looked at Emma, confused, "What's wrong with the flower shop? From what Moe said, the owners are nice. Although he did mention that the brunette was a little rough around the edges." Granny winked and added, "And not in that fun biker way."

Ruby made an over-exaggerated face like she was going to gag, "Gross, Gran! Why did you have to go and say something like that?" Emma started howling with laughter and Ruby picked up a pillow and hit her in the chest.

Emma picked up a pillow to retaliate but one look from Granny put an end to it. She looked around the shop and settled on the Game Cube plugged into the television. Emma looked at Ruby and asked, "Mario Kart? Loser buys dinner?"

Ruby jumped off of the couch to grab the controllers, "You're on! Best two out of three!"

Granny shook her head and went up front to talk to Lacey.

Ruby and Emma were both very competitive and it didn't take long for obscenities to start flying and for them to start playing dirty. After a particularly nasty run on Rainbow Road that resulted in Emma being knocked off the track so many times she lost count, Emma started blocking Ruby's vision every time she gained a small lead. One of the times Emma tried blocking, she lost a grip of the controller and it went flying behind her, nearly hitting a framed picture at Ruby's station. When she turned around, Granny and Lacey were both standing with their hands on their hips shaking their heads. Emma looked sheepishly at them as she got up and collected her controller. Her antics put a stop to the game.

"I win, Emma, you owe me dinner."

"Ruby, we tied, I won the first round, and you won the second."

"And I won the third."

"We never finished that round!"

"Because you cheated! Which means that I win."

Emma crossed her arms. "Fine."

Before Emma and Ruby could leave for dinner, two couples had walked in and wanted to get small, matching tattoos. Two hours later, when they were all done and out of the store, Emma grimaced. Ruby caught the look, "What? Your couple seemed nice."

"Oh they were, but they wanted to get each other's names tattooed with a little heart. Guess how long they've been together?"

"Oh no... How long?"

"Four months." Ruby cringed and Emma continued, "How do you decide to get someone's name tattooed after being together for only four months? In what realm is that a good idea?"

Ruby shrugged and shook her head, "Maybe they'll come to you for the cover up."

"Maybe. Let's just hope one of them doesn't come back for a cover up and someone else's name."

Ruby laughed, "Ready for dinner?"

Emma nodded, "Sure, where to?"

"Dunno yet," Ruby replied, grabbing Emma's arm and pulling her out the door. Ruby returned a minute later and picked up the rose, she was pretty sure Kathryn wouldn't mind her hanging on to it, but she did promise to return it by the end of the day.

The two returned the flower and had an uneventful evening. The next morning, Emma got up earlier than usual so that she and Ruby could pass out flyers. She decided to wear her favorite red leather jacket, as it was still a little chilly, although she barely needed an excuse to wear it. She arrived to the tattoo shop to meet Ruby 10 minutes late. Ruby didn't bother giving Emma shit about being late, she was always late and Ruby was pretty sure the day Emma arrived before the scheduled time, it would be a sign of the apocalypse. At the very least, it would be a good day to purchase a lotto ticket. Emma was at least always apologetic about being late and greeted her with, "I'm so sorry."

Ruby just waved it away. "Ready to get started?"

Emma took the stack of flyers Ruby handed her "Sure! You go right and I go left?"

Ruby looked at her surprised. "Wait, you were serious about splitting up? I really thought you were joking."

"We can cover more ground if we split up."

Ruby put her hands on her hips as best she could with the flyers in her hand, "And this has nothing to do with a certain brunette who co-owns the flower shop next door?"

Emma scoffed, "No..."

"Well I don't want to go by myself, it takes the fun out of it if we don't do it together." Ruby really didn't care one way or another if she and Emma went together. There was just a large part of her that wanted to see Emma and the brunette together.

"Come on Rubes... Please?"

Ruby crossed her arms, "Nope, not happening. We're going together or you're telling Granny why the flyers didn't go out today."

"Ugh. Fine. Where do you want to start first?"

Ruby perked up, "Let's go left" and led the way out of the shop

Emma started grumbling and followed Ruby.

When they walked into the flower shop, Emma was annoyed to see Regina behind the counter.

When she heard the door, Regina launched into her standard, "Welcome to Game of Thorns" greeting, but stopped when she saw Emma. "Come to steal another flower, Miss Swan? Or would you rather your associate do it for you?"

"Nobody stole anything. It might not be a good idea to accuse your customers of theft."

"My apologies, what will you be purchasing today?" Regina asked as Ruby and Emma approached the counter.

Ruby jumped in before Emma could reply, "Actually, we were wondering if you would one of our flyers in the window?"

Regina took the flyer Ruby was holding out and surveyed it, "And why would I want to put a flyer in my shop advertising your special deal to put holes in your customers?"

Ruby raised her eyebrows, "Helping out a local business? Moe let us put flyers up all the time."

Regina scoffed, "I'm all for supporting small businesses, I just don't see the point of supporting yours. What service do you provide besides disfiguring the population?"

Ruby gaped and Emma jumped in, "You know what? We don't need you to put up any flyers. We'll just be going." She turned around, guiding Ruby to do so as well and added, "Just remember, you're not the only florist around, and we carry weight in this town." Just like she did the day before, Emma let the door slam on her way out.

Kathryn walked up to Regina. "Smooth Regina, real smooth. You couldn't just get over yourself for a few days and put up a damn flyer? What is so terrible about them? They seem like nice girls."

"I simply disagree with their lifestyle choices, Kathryn."

"Once again, they aren't drug lords, they're artists." Kathryn took the flyer out of Regina's hands, "Damn, $25 piercings above the belt? That's a good deal." Regina scowled at her, "What? That does include ears, you know."

Ruby was still surprised by how rude Regina had been in the flower shop, "Dude, what did you say to her yesterday? She really doesn't like you."

"Why does it always have to be something I did?" Ruby raised an eyebrow, "I really didn't do anything this time, I promise. All I did yesterday was walk over and grab a flower, then explain that Moe used to let us do it all the time."

"By explain do you mean you actually talked to her in a nice way or did you cuss at her?"

Emma shrugged, "There may have been an f-bomb dropped."

"There you go, she seems like the type of person who wouldn't appreciate someone coming into their shop, taking a flower, and then dropping an f-bomb."

Emma sighed, "Alright, you win. I may have messed that one up. But you also have to admit that she seems to have a thing against tattoo artists."

"Yeah, that was really weird." They stopped in front of a shoe store, "I forget, is this the one that lets us put our stuff up in the window or is it the other one?"

Emma checked the name, "This is the one that lets us put stuff up. You should know that because Ashley works here."

"Oh yeah! Why do I always forget that?" Ruby started to walk in but paused when she saw Ashley helping a customer, "Do you wanna take this one?"

"Are you two not on speaking terms right now?" Ruby stepped away from the door and started shifting her weight. "Ruby..."

"I may have forgotten to call her when we... hung out..."

Emma swatted at Ruby with the flyers, "Ruby you didn't!" Ruby gave her a half-smile in response, "I thought she was straight?"

"She wasn't that night," Ruby replied with a wink. "Now, will you please take this one?"

Emma smirked and Ruby knew she was screwed. "Nopee.'It's no fun if we don't do it together.'"

"Damn it!" The two walked in and to no surprise, Ashley saw them first.

Ruby had tried hiding behind Emma, but Emma wouldn't let her.

Ashley walked over with a big smile on her face - they were pretty sure it was only there because she was at work, "Hey guys! Long time no talk."

"Hey Ashley, how've you been?" Emma asked.

"Oh you know... Same old, same old... What can I help you with?" Emma held up the flyers to show her, "I've been waiting for $25 piercings! Been thinking about doing something fun, like my belly button. Or you know..." She gestured to her chest.

Emma noticed Ruby's eyes get a little big and she nudged her, before replying, "Well come on in, it's both days this weekend and Lacey'll be piercing too, just in case you feel weird having Granny do it." She laughed slightly uncomfortably. She usually had no problem discussing piercings with people but being thrown in the middle of Ruby and the friend she didn't call back after sleeping with her was not Emma's ideal social situation. Ashley talking about a more... intimate piercing was not helping matters.

"Sounds good. I'll give you a call." She turned to Ruby, "Bye Ruby, it was nice seeing you."

"Nice seeing you too, Ashley." Ashley walked away to help another customer and Ruby and Emma left the store.

When they were back out on the sidewalk and a few stores down from the shoe store, Emma started giving Ruby a hard time. "You could have talked to her a little bit, I mean damn. That was just a _little_ awkward."

"I know, I know. I just didn't know what to say."

"Well at some point you might want to apologize for never calling her... Just a thought."

"Are you really going to start lecturing _me_ on women, Emma? When was the last time you went on a date? Dude, when was the last time you got _laid_?"

Emma started to think about it and tried to figure out how long it had been when Ruby added, "If you have to think about it, it's been too long. What was wrong with the blonde you were flirting with a couple weeks ago?"

"I was not flirting! I was giving her a consult!"

"Okay, what happened to that girl you were consulting?"

"She and her sister are supposed to come in this week to get their tattoos."

"Good, you should ask her out."

"Isn't that a little inappropriate?"

"Why?"

"Because she's a customer!"

"Soo? I'm not saying ask her out before you tattoo her and if she turns you down either don't do the tattoo or fuck it up. Do the tattoo, then ask her out. Just for drinks. It'll be good for you to get out."

Emma shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know, Ruby..."

"What do you have to lose?" Ruby looped her arm in Emma's, "Come on, let's go finish this up."

The two passed out flyers for another hour and they returned to Big Bad Wolf just in time to open. Lacey was already in and checking the messages, when she was finished, she handed two "While You Were Out" slips to Ruby and one to Emma. Emma was interrupted while reading hers by Ruby fist pumping and yelling "YES!"

"What the hell?" Emma tried to look at the slip in Ruby's hand but Ruby was holding it in a way that made it difficult to read.

"Do you remember that shop we talked to a couple months ago about sharing booth space at the next convention?"

"Yeah, the owner is August something, right?"

"Yeah. Well, he said they're game to split it if we're still interested. It should end up being like 275 each."

"Sweet! You gotta talk to Granny though, you know how she feels about conventions."

"I know, I know. It's not like she has to close completely, just open up for piercing. She could always run another special that weekend."

Granny walked into the shop right as Ruby was finishing her sentence, "Why am I running another special and what weekend?"

"Shit," Ruby said under her breath. "The Boston Tattoo Convention is the weekend of August 21st, the guys over at Ink-Side-Out said they'd be willing to share a booth and save some money. You could run another piercing special or something that weekend so you don't have to close."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Because I run a tattoo shop, I need my artists in the shop."

"Come on. Please? It's really good money for Emma and I and it helps get our name out there and build a reputation."

Granny scowled and crossed her arms, "I didn't realize we needed to build a reputation for the shop that I've had for 35 years."

Ruby tried backtracking, "That's not what I meant. I meant for Emma and I to build a reputation. Wouldn't it be good if our names stood on their own like yours does?"

Granny considered what she said, "I still don't like the idea of not having my artists for a weekend. But I'll think about it."

Ruby hugged her, "Thanks Gran!"

"I didn't say yes yet. Now what are you girls doing? Get to work!"

Ruby gave her a mock salute, "Yes ma'am!" and headed over to her station.

At Game of Thorns, business was slow, they had only seen a handful of customers and Kathryn and Regina were just standing at the register chatting.

"You don't think they were serious about telling people not to come in, do you?" Regina asked, trying not to show any concern.

Kathryn laughed, "No, Regina, I think it's Tuesday afternoon and people don't necessarily need flowers. I think they made their point though, they were trying to rattle you."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't. What is your problem with Emma anyway?"

"Emma?" Regina questioned.

"Oh don't play stupid, you know exactly who I'm talking about. 'Miss Swan' the hot blonde in the red leather jacket that you're being unreasonably rude to. The one I'm about 90% sure you were checking out both times she came in."

Regina scoffed but didn't deny the accusation "I told you, I disagree with her life choices."

"You have never cared that much about tattoo artists or tattoos, despite what your mother has tried to instill. And you can't even say it was because of the flower thing because Moe told us about that beforehand and you didn't have any objections then. But if you don't want to share then I will work on finding out on my own." Kathryn softened her tone and put her hand on Regina's, "You know it'd be okay if you were interested in her, right?"

Regina glared, "I'm not."

Kathryn pulled back "Okay." Kathryn changed the subject to the differences between the Harry Potter movies and books, something Regina could talk about for hours.

The day passed without too much excitement for both shops.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma let out a frustrated sigh and balled up the drawing she was working on. She tossed it into the garbage can where it was knocked out by the dozen or so other balled up pieces of paper.

Ruby put her pencil down and turned to her, "What is your problem?"

"I need a couple flowers." Emma whined.

"Sooo go get some?"

"From where?"

"You could go next door." Emma snorted. "Or you can go a few blocks down and get them there. You did threaten to do that."

"You know that was an empty threat, the woman who owns that one is too nice and she wears too much blue. It freaks me out."

"So we've got too nice and too mean? Alright Goldilocks, you gotta pick one, because I don't think you'll find one that's just right." Ruby paused and then added, "You could also look online, like most people do."

Emma scowled, "I like having something in hand as a reference, you know that." She sighed and stood up, "I'm going next door. If I'm not back in 10..."

"I'll send a search party."

Emma took a deep breath before entering the flower shop. There was nobody at the register so she assumed that Regina and Kathryn were both in the back. Emma made a beeline for the carnations and was picking one out when she heard a voice behind her that made her tense up.

"I thought you were going to take your business elsewhere and encourage others to do the same. If I remember correctly you, 'carry weight in this town.'"

Emma turned around and almost bumped right into Regina, who was standing very close to her, close enough for Emma to smell her perfume. "And if I remember correctly, you wanted paying customers. You're not going to scare me off that easily, Regina."

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Emma held up the pink carnation she had in her hand, "Nope, came for this and one of those asters that I was going to pick up the other day. If you excuse me, I'd like to go get my flower?" Emma was still stuck in between the table and Regina and Regina still didn't seem to notice how close she was standing to Emma. Emma did notice and it was becoming problematic. Regina may be a bit rude and judgmental, but she was still extremely attractive.

"Apologies, I'll be at the register when you're ready." Regina stepped back and walked over to the register.

Emma went over to the asters and picked out a blue one. She brought it up to the register and Regina rang her up. "Your total is $8.00."

"For two flowers?!"

Regina nodded, "Yes. Now will that be cash, credit, or check?"

Emma sighed and pulled out her wallet, "Cash." She paid Regina, took her flowers, and walked out.

When Emma walked into the tattoo shop, Ruby and Lacey gave her a once over.

"You alright there?" Ruby asked. "Lace and I were about to storm into the shop and rescue you."

Emma was running her interaction with Regina over in her head and didn't hear Ruby right away, "What? Oh... I'm fine. We were both civil and I even paid for the flowers. Can't remember the last time I did that."

Lacey laughed, "It was that time you forgot to put that rose in water and then forgot to give it back to Dad at the end of the night."

Emma glared, "Thank you, Lacey..."

"You're welcome! By the way, your appointment, those two sisters, rescheduled for a couple weeks from now."

Emma groaned, "I was really hoping they'd come in this week."

"Were ya planning on taking my advice?" Ruby asked with a wink.

Emma turned slightly pink, "No, I just know we have a light week and the younger one looks like she might be a screamer." Emma realized the double entendre as it was coming out and before Ruby could say anything, Emma looked at her and added, "Don't. I know how it came out. Just don't." Lacey and Ruby started to laugh and Emma just pointed over to her station, "I'm just gonna work on this design..."

At the end of the day, Emma took the flowers back next door.

"I'd like to return these," she told Kathryn, who was manning the register. Emma didn't see Regina out on the floor.

Kathryn gave her a 'you're joking' look. "Emma, we don't do returns. Why do you want to return them anyway? Don't you usually end up coming back for the same flowers several times? Why not just keep these?"

"Because I'm trying to make a point."

Kathryn smiled, "Alright then. Do you have a receipt?"

Emma looked at her confused, "I didn't get one."

"Well then how do I know you paid? How do I know you're not just making all of this up?"

"Can I just give them back then?"

"If you want, but I don't see the point."

"You don't have to." Emma sat the flowers down on the counter, "Thanks, Kathryn. Have a good night."

"See ya."

Shortly after Emma left, Regina came out of the office. She saw the flowers on the counter and recognized them as the ones Emma purchased earlier that day. "What are these doing here?"

"Emma came by to return them."

"We don't do returns."

"I know that. I told her that. She wanted to do it anyway." Kathryn noticed a hint of a smile on Regina's face. "She's not terrible, you know."

Two days later, on Friday, Emma returned to the flower shop and had another civil interaction with Regina. Regina even let them post their ad for the weekend piercing special. When Emma spoke to Regina, she thought about asking her what her problem was those first couple of times they talked and what it was that changed her mind about tattoo artists. Fear of the answer and of ruining whatever detente or nice equilibrium they had going for them stopped her from asking. Emma was hoping that Regina would let her start borrowing flowers as long as she returned them same day. Buying flowers was going to add up soon.


	3. Chapter 3

On Saturday, Granny opened Big Bad Wolf at 10 instead of 11 and within minutes, customers were filing into the shop. Some were there for the cheap piercing, some were there for appointments, and some were just walk-ins who had seen the shop. It was a nice day out and it got people thinking about summer time and being able to show off new piercings. Granny, Lacey, Ruby, and Emma had to consistently remind customers of the importance of tattoo aftercare, which means no direct sunlight for the first couple of weeks, then liberal amounts of sunscreen after that and no swimming for 6-8 weeks. One of the girls scheduled to see Ruby argued about the aftercare instruction so much, she was asked to leave.

Sunday, Granny bought them all donuts and Emma tore into the bear claws. Around noon, she was on her third one when Kathryn, followed by Regina, walked into the shop. Emma had been walking around eating and when she saw Regina, she dropped her bear claw in surprise.

"Nooo!" Emma immediately dropped to the floor and picked up the bear claw. She checked to make sure there was nothing on it, and then took a bite. Kathryn, Regina, Ruby, Lacey, and a couple of customers were watching the entire thing with a mix of horror and amusement. When Emma noticed, she shrugged and said, "What? Five second rule!"

"I do hope you've cleaned those floors recently," said Regina with a judgmental look.

Emma shrugged again, "Like I said, five second rule." She took another bite and then asked Regina, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Regina stiffened and replied, "Kathryn asked me to go with her so I obliged. Believe me, I wouldn't be caught dead in an establishment like this otherwise." Kathryn elbowed Regina, but she didn't say anything.

Emma was mentally chastising herself for how she worded her question. She didn't know Regina well, but she knew a defense mechanism when she saw one. "Sorry, you just surprised me." She gestured to the back of the store, "There are donuts in the kitchenette if you want some."

"No there aren't." Ruby corrected.

"Wait, what? What happened to the donuts?"

"I believe someone with the initials ES ate the last one. I only bought half a dozen." Granny replied.

Emma looked down at the bear claw in her hand and gave Regina and Kathryn an apologetic look, "My bad. We do have water and some sodas if you'd like. And a lounge to wait in. I think there are a couple of people ahead of you, Kathryn."

"Thanks Emma."

"What are you getting done?" Ruby asked.

"My nose." Kathryn replied, pointing to the side she wanted her piercing on.

Regina looked surprised and annoyed. "What?! I thought you were going to get another hole in your ear!"

"No, I only said that to get you in here for moral support." Kathryn said with a grin. "Now let's go sit down."

Emma was impressed with Regina, most people who got dragged along to sit with a friend getting pierced or tattooed got bored or agitated fairly quickly, but Regina didn't complain once. When Kathryn walked over to get her piercing, Emma sat down next to Regina.

"Sorry again if I was rude earlier."

"It's fine, I'm sure you couldn't help yourself." Regina replied, somewhat coolly.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what, Miss Swan?"

"That! That whole shut off and cold thing. Like you don't want to let anyone in or something."

"I don't know what you mean. Now if you excuse me." Regina stood up walked over to Kathryn, leaving Emma shaking her head on the couch. Emma was called over five minutes later for her next appointment, a _Nightmare Before Christmas_ sleeve.

The next morning, Emma woke up earlier than usual and went to the doughnut shop. She picked up a dozen different doughnuts, two regular coffees, two chai lattes, and a plain bagel with cream cheese. Instead of taking the food to work, she took it to Game of Thorns. When she walked in, Regina was at the counter, giving her a confused look as Emma put the food and drinks on the counter.

"I wasn't sure if you're more of a coffee or tea person, so I bought a regular coffee and a chai latte, which would you prefer?" Emma asked her, in lieu of a greeting and continued with, "I also have a dozen doughnuts and a bagel."

"I don't remember asking you to bring me food or anything, Miss Swan."

"Consider it a peace offering. I'm not asking for anything in return, I'm just trying to be nice. And I felt bad offering you food that didn't exist yesterday. So..." Emma picked up a coffee in one hand and the chai in the other. "Which will it be?"

Regina took the coffee. "Thank you."

Emma opened up the doughnut box and turned it around so Regina could see it, "Doughnut? Or would you prefer a bagel?"

Regina started to say she wouldn't like anything but she saw the apple crumb doughnut and grabbed it. "Thank you, Miss Swan."

"Can we stop with the 'Miss Swan' please? It's Emma."

"Very well then... Emma…" Regina said with a small smile.

Emma smiled, "Great. I gotta get next door. Have a good day!" Emma started to gather the food but stopped, "Oh wait, almost forgot! Is Kathryn a tea or coffee person?"

"Tea."

"Alrighty!" Emma left one of the lattes on the counter, grabbed the other two drinks as well as the food, and left, passing Kathryn on her way out.

Kathryn looked between the door and Regina and started smiling. "So what was that about?"

"Nothing. Miss Sw- Emma just came by with some coffee and doughnuts, said it was a peace offering." Regina pointed to one of the drinks on the counter, "That's for you, by the way."

"Thank you... Soo she just came by with no warning and dropped off food?" Regina nodded, and Kathryn made a mental note to ask Ruby about Emma later.

Over the next two weeks, Emma stopped by the flower shop every day as part of her routine and they both started to look forward to it. Some days she dropped off coffee or other goodies and some days she actually came in to buy a flower or two. The most recent time Emma came in, Regina waved off her offer to pay and threw in a violet "on the house."

Emma didn't think anything of it until she got back to the shop and Ruby freaked out about it.

"Emma! She's totally into you and this is her way of telling you!"

"What? No! This is just her being nice!"

"Do you not remember what a violet represents? Or do you think a florist wouldn't know and just gave it to you because she likes violets and thought you might too?"

Emma _did_ remember the history behind women giving each other violets. It was a way for lesbians and bi women to indicate 'Sapphic desire.' She thought back to her interactions with Regina the past couple of weeks. Regina had been a lot nicer and for the most part had refrained from rude comments about tattoos. Although Regina _had_ picked on her for the red leather jacket. Emma would be lying if she said she'd never thought about it, Regina was beautiful and Emma wasn't blind, but she didn't seriously consider Regina liking her an option. It was just a small crush. "I think you're reading too much into it, Ruby."

"Ugh! Are you kidding me?! Ask her out, Emma! Just do it and see what happens!"

Emma looked to Lacey for back up but Lacey said, "Hey, I'm with Ruby. You should just ask her out."

Emma let out a frustrated growl and walked away.

Next door, Regina was chastising herself for giving Emma the flower. "Really great idea, Regina."

Kathryn heard her from a few feet away where she was watering some of the flowers, "What was a great idea? Giving Emma the violet? Because it's about damn time one of you did something like that. You should ask her out. If Ruby is a good source, Emma is interested too."

Regina froze, "What? I don't know what..."

Kathryn cut her off, "Save it. You're allowed to be happy, you know. Forget about your mother's shit. Emma's a nice girl, give it a shot."


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next week, neither Emma nor Regina had taken their friend's advice or even discussed the flower. They had both decided that they wouldn't bring it up unless the other did. Emma hadn't broken her routine and continued to stop by the shop on a daily basis and Regina waved off any offers to pay for flowers. Regina did not give Emma any more violets, as part of her resolve to not start a discussion. When Friday rolled around though, everything changed.

Emma had been in a funk all day and it wasn't until she and Ruby were closing the shop at 9:00 that she realized why. It was the first day in a few weeks that Emma hadn't stopped by the flower shop and she missed it. She actually missed seeing Regina, more than she would expect of something that she had brushed off as "a small crush." When she realized this, she stopped what she was doing and her eyes got big, catching Ruby's attention.

"What's wrong with you?"

Emma tried to shake it, "What? Oh nothing, just remembered something."

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that you didn't visit a certain brunette at a certain flower shop?" Ruby asked with a smirk.

Emma looked away and continued restocking her station, "I didn't even notice."

"You are a terrible liar, you know that? Especially for someone who brags about having a 'superpower' that lets you know when someone is lying. You totally missed seeing Regina. You likeee her." Ruby teased.

Emma turned red, "I do not."

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"I do not like Regina!"

"Fine, you don't."

"But what if I did?"

"It wouldn't come as a shock to anyone."

"What?!'

"Kathryn, Lacey, Granny, and I figured it out a while ago. We may even have a little bet going on about how long it'll take one of you to ask the other out."

"You're betting on my personal life?!"

"What? It's fun. Remember that yoga instructor a few years ago?"

"...Yes..."

"I won 30 bucks because it took you three consults to realize that she was interested."

"Hey! In my defense, You Know Who had just come back into town!"

Ruby shrugged, "Either way."

"So how much is on the line this time?"

Ruby shook her head, "Not saying a word. Don't wanna get accused of trying to influence you so I'll win."

"So you won't even tell me how long you bet it would take?"

"Nope! But maybe I'll split it with you if I win." Ruby leaned in, conspiratorially, despite them being the only ones in the shop. "I will tell you that Lacey's already out. Guess she had more faith in you two."

"Fine." As annoying as it was that her friends bet on her personal life, they were usually right about some stuff. It wouldn't hurt to at least get an idea of how Regina felt for herself.

The two women took another few minutes to finish cleaning up. When they walked out to lock the door, they saw Regina doing the same next door. Ruby made a show of checking her pockets, "Shit! I forgot something, go ahead, I'll lock up!" and ran back inside, leaving Emma and Regina alone.

Emma shook her head and muttered, "Subtle, Ruby, real subtle." She took another look at Regina cleared her throat and walked up to Regina, not wanting to startle her. "You're working late, don't you usually close at 8?"

"Yes but I had some orders to take care of. I didn't realize I had to run my schedule by you." Regina replied curtly. She was annoyed at Emma, but not exactly sure why, she hadn't done anything, she hadn't even stopped by the shop that day.

Emma was slightly taken aback by Regina's tone, "Sorry, it just surprised me." She thought about not stopping by Game of Thorns that morning. "Also, sorry that you missed your midmorning coffee, I had an appointment right when we opened and I was late."

"You don't have to explain yourself. I didn't ask you to bring me coffee every morning." Regina replied in a lighter tone, but still with an air of annoyance.

Emma frowned and put her hands in her pockets, "I know. I do it because I want to." Before she could really stop herself, Emma added, "How about tomorrow, you join me?"

Regina was surprised but recovered quickly, "For coffee?"

Emma nodded, "Yeah."

"Are you asking me out, Miss Swan?" Regina asked in an unreadable tone.

Emma shifted nervously, "Uh… Yeah…"

"On a date?"

Emma's inability to get a read on Regina was making her even more nervous. She put her hand up and quickly said, "Only if you want it to be, otherwise we're just two friends grabbing coffee."

Regina smiled and asked, "Shall we meet at 10:30?"

Emma nodded, "Sounds good."

"Very well then, I will see you tomorrow morning at 10:30 sharp. Have a good night, Miss Sw—Emma." Regina gave Emma another smile and turned to walk towards the back parking lot.

"Night!" Emma called after her and exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding. Panic immediately started to set in as she realized she actually successfully asked Regina out without planning it.

She heard the click of a lock and turned to see Ruby with an inquiring look on her face, "Sooo what were you and Regina talking about?"

Emma walked up to her and they headed the opposite direction from Regina, towards Ruby and Lacey's place "I'm surprised you weren't listening."

"I tried, but you weren't standing close enough to the shop or talking loud enough. I didn't want to scare you guys away by coming outside." Ruby nudged Emma with her shoulder, "Come on now, what were you talking about? You looked a little nervous."

"We're getting coffee tomorrow." Emma said simply.

Ruby started to get excited. "On a date?"

"Yep."

"YES!" Ruby fist pumped and there was a bounce in her step.

"Does that mean you won?" Emma asked, already knowing the answer.

"Hell yeah, it does, 40 bucks to me!"

"You mean, 20, since I get half of that, right?"

"No, I mean 40. We each put in 20, which means there was 80 in."

Emma stopped dead in her tracks, "20 BUCKS EACH?!"

Ruby shrugged "What? It was originally just 10 but then Kathryn upped the ante."

"That's insane! You have to be joking!"

"Nope." Ruby shook her head and added, "Kathryn's gonna be upset, if you had waited just a few days, she would have won."

"Well maybe next time she won't put 20 bucks in."

Ruby laughed. "Or she'll try to influence the bet…. So are you coming over or am I going to have to get the details in the short walk to my place?"

"Who said you were getting details?"

"Um, best friend code says. So tell me everything."

Emma told Ruby how her conversation with Regina went and when she finished, they were outside Ruby and Lacey's place. "You are such a dork."

"Hey! I asked her out, didn't I?!"

"Barely!" Ruby gestured to the door. "You comin' up?"

"Nah. I gotta get up a little earlier than usual so I should probably just go home."

"Alright. Have a good night, Em!"

"Night!" Emma took several steps before remembering something just as the door clicked shut. "Shit!" She pulled out her phone and called Ruby.

"Aw Emma! Miss me already?"

"Shut up. Can you do me a favor? Graham said he might bring one of his buddies from the station to the shop tomorrow, if I'm still out with Regina, can you take it?"

"Sure!"

"Thank you! Talk to you tomorrow!" Emma hung up and started walking home, letting the anxiety about her coffee date with Regina take hold.

When Regina got to her car, she called Kathryn. "I need you to open the store tomorrow, I have to take the morning off."

"No problem, what's going on?"

"I'm meeting someone for coffee morning."

There was an instant change in Kathryn's tone "Is it a date?"

"Yes, Kathryn, it's a date."

Kathryn squealed. "Who is it with?!"

"Emma." Regina heard a shriek and a loud noise that sounded like the other woman dropped her phone.

"About time! Although I would have appreciated you waiting a few days to ask her out."

"Why?" Regina asked suspiciously. "You've been telling me to ask her out for ages. And I didn't ask, she asked me."

"Just a thing with Ruby, don't worry about it. So what did she say?! Is it just coffee? Are you planning to do anything after? Do you think there will be another date?"

Regina sighed and spent the entire drive home answering Kathryn's questions. When she arrived home, she was exhausted and headed straight to bed. Regina had trouble getting to sleep because she kept thinking about Emma. She had been interested in the younger woman for a while and was happy that Emma liked her back. However, she couldn't help but think about what her mother would say to her going on a date with a woman again. Her mother didn't approve of Regina's sexual orientation and had spent a large amount of money trying "fix her." Regina had stopped telling her mother about her love life, or what was left of it, and stopped going out with women.

In the morning, after a grand total of 4 hours sleep, Regina contemplated calling Emma and cancelling. The desire to avoid being rude and the fact that she didn't have Emma's phone number stopped her. She chose her outfit carefully and left to ensure that she would be at the coffee shop promptly at 10:30.

Across town, Emma woke up right at 10, giving her fifteen minutes to shower and find something to wear. When Emma entered the coffee shop at 10:35, she spotted Regina right away. Regina was in a back corner, facing the door and checking her watch. She already had a drink. Instead of getting in line, Emma walked over to Regina.

"You're late."

"Only by like five minutes! Which is early for me."

"But five minutes late for most people. Are you going to sit down or are you just planning on standing there the entire time?"

"Oh, I was gonna get a drink, but I wanted to come over here first. Need a refill?"

"Not yet, but I'll let you buy the next one." Regina said with a smile.

"Deal." Emma walked away to order her coffee and returned a few minutes later. When she sat down, one of her legs immediately started shaking due to nerves.

"Is everything okay?"

"What? Oh. The leg. Sorry." Emma smiled nervously. "Soo…" She started mentally chastising herself for not being a little prepared for her date, it had been years since her last one.

Regina raised an eyebrow but seemed content with letting Emma take the lead and figure out the socialization thing on her own.

"Umm…What made you want to become a florist?"

"I enjoy the outdoors, Kathryn had this idea of starting a business together and it all kind of fell into place. What made you decide to scar people for a living?" At Emma's hurt look, she winced and apologized. "I'm sorry…that was rude."

Emma had almost gotten up and left but stopped herself. "What is your problem with tattoo artists?"

"If you knew my mother, you'd understand. I grew up being told that people who get tattoos are deviants of some sort. To be honest, tattoos don't bother me that much. Sometimes it's just difficult not echo a parent's prejudices. I'm sure you know that."

Emma's face turned red and she looked down, becoming very interested in a spot on the table. "No, I actually don't. I uh… moved around a lot until I met Ruby and Granny." Emma looked up to see that Regina understood what she was saying, saving her a longer explanation of the foster care system. "I always had a sketchbook or something with me and when I met them and learned about tattooing, I decided that was what I wanted to do. It's not just scarring people, you know."

"I know and I apologize, I shouldn't have said that." Regina finished off her coffee. "Is that something you go to school for?"

"Not really. I mean, I went to art school, but that was just because I wanted to have a degree. I had to take a handful of classes, like anatomy and disease transmission for my apprentice license. After two years as an apprentice, I got my license and that was that. Ruby finished before me because she only went to college a semester. What about you? What -"

Regina's phone went off, stopping Emma midsentence. "Sorry dear, I meant to turn that on silent." Regina ignored the call and put it on silent. When she looked back up at Emma, intending to tell her to finish, she was thrown by the look on Emma's face. Emma had her mouth wide open and hadn't said a word or made any noise. "Something wrong?"

"Was that the 'Imperial March'?"

"I assume since you recognize it you already know the answer." The grin on Emma's face could rival the Cheshire Cat's and Regina wasn't sure what the joke was, "Is there a problem?"

Emma shrugged, "Meesa just didn't take yoosa for a big Star Wars fan."

Regina laughed, "That was a terrible Jar Jar Binks impression, Emma."

"There's such a thing as a good Jar Jar Binks impression?"

"I guess not."

Emma hadn't gotten a look at the caller ID but was curious about who had warranted the "Imperial March" as their ringtone. "Who called?"

"Just my mother."

"Your mother?!" Emma asked with a laugh.

"Yes. Kathryn set it as a joke last year and I just never changed it."

"…Do you not know how to change it?"

"Oh I know how. I just haven't gotten around to it."

"That's hilarious! Remind me to get Kathryn an extra-large coffee on Monday." She looked at Regina's obviously empty cup. "Speaking of, can I get you a drink?"

"You don't have to."

"I asked you out, the least I can do is make sure you don't pay for your own drinks. Be right back." It took her longer to return to the table because the man in front of her changed his order several times.

"So how big of a Star Wars fan are you? Are we talking, 'Hardcore fan that can quote every movie and goes to conventions in a Slave Leia costume' or we talking more casual fan?

"I hate to disappoint you, but I do not own any Star Wars costumes."

"Damn." At Regina's raised eyebrow Emma tacked on, "That you're not a convention goer."

"I never said that, I just said I don't go in costume."

"Wouldn't have pegged you for a con goer, Regina."

"I've only been to one, I dragged Kathryn along to one three years ago and I'm still paying for it."

Emma and Regina continued their conversation about their favorite movies, tv shows, and books, the previous conversation mostly forgotten. Emma was surprised by how much she and Regina actually had in common. They both liked a lot of the same shows and Emma was pretty sure she had someone who was an even match in trivia. Despite their rough start, they were getting along fabulously, laughing and discussing cheesy fan theories. They had been at the coffee shop for almost two hours and the conversation had changed to some of their other hobbies.

"I've never actually been on a horse."

"Really?" Regina asked, surprised.

"Nope. One of the families I was with signed their daughter up for lessons but I wasn't really interested."

Based on Emma's tone, Regina was certain that "I wasn't really interested" actually meant, "I wasn't allowed," but she wasn't going to ask. "Well would you be interested in meeting Rocinante?"

"Who?"

"My horse, dear."

"Oh! Yeah, sure!" Emma gave her a hesitant look, "He doesn't bite, does he?"

Regina gave her a small chuckle, "Only if you don't hold apples the right way. Would you be interested in going today? I was thinking of driving to the stables to see him."

"I'd love to but I have some appointments later today. Would we be back by three?"

Regina had forgotten that Emma didn't have the luxury of a flexible schedule that she had. "We can be. Are you sure it won't interfere with your day too much if you don't go in before then?"

"Nah, I'm owed a lot of time off and I've had a lot of big pieces lately. Ruby can handle the walk-ins."

"I'll drive." They both got up at the same time and Emma waited for Regina to pass before following. As they were leaving, Emma bumped into someone who was coming into the shop.

"Oh shit. Sorry!" She looked at the woman and recognized her as the sister of one of her regulars, "Jill?"

"Emma! Hey! How are you?"

"Good! How's the tattoo healing?"

"Really great, see?" She pulled up her sleeve to show Emma the purple ribbon that had mostly finished peeling.

"Looks good! Stop by if you need a touch up. I gotta go, tell Jack I said hi!" She gave the woman a hug and walked out to meet Regina.

"Friend of yours?"

"Kind of. Her brother's a regular, she stops in with him."

"And you were the one who did the ribbon on her wrist?"

"Yeah…" Emma was a little nervous about having another tattoo talk with Regina

"From what I could see, it looks nice."

Emma relaxed "Thanks, Regina."

The two were quiet during the walk to Regina's car and most of the ride to the stables. Emma usually hated silence like that but it didn't bother her. Regina was the one to break it.

"Emma?"

"Yeah?

"I should apologize for the way I treated you the first few times we interacted. I was unnecessarily rude."

Before she could continue with her apology, Emma said, "It's okay. We just got off on the wrong foot, it seems to have worked out alright." Emma smiled. "Right?"

"But I'm still sorry."

"I know. So am I. So apology accepted and we'll talk more about it at some point but not now because I see horses."

They parked and Emma let Regina lead her into the stables. "Whoa."

"What?"

"They're just so…big."

Regina smiled at the amazement in Emma's voice. "Is this your first time seeing a horse up close?"

"Yeah… Will they sense that? Will it freak them out? Should I wait outside?"

They reached the stall with a sign that said, 'Rocinante.' "Here we are." Regina made a clicking noise with her tongue and the horse appeared at the gate a second later. He was brown and had a white blaze down his face. Regina reached out to pet him and he stuck his head out of the stall. Emma was startled by the sudden closeness of the horse and jumped back, nearly falling over. "Emma! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it was just unexpected. Can I pet him?"

"Yes, come here." Regina guided Emma so that she was close enough to reach Rocinante but with enough distance so that if he moved suddenly, it hopefully wouldn't scare her. Regina left a hand on Emma's back and with her other hand, showed Emma how to pet the horse. "If you want, you can pet his nose, like this."

Emma was nervous but followed Regina's lead. "His nose is really soft!"

Regina chuckled and let Emma pet Rocinante for a bit before asking, "Do you want to give him a treat?" Regina saw Emma's hesitation. "If you do what I tell you, he won't get your fingers."

"Okay."

"Hold on." Regina walked away and came back a minute later with some carrots. "Watch what I do." She took one of the carrots and held it out for the horse. When he got close to it, she flatted out her hand and let him take the carrot. "If you keep your hand flat, he won't be able to bite you." Regina held up a carrot, "Do you want to try the next one?"

-Emma nodded and took the carrot. She held it out just like Regina did but the second Rocinante touched the carrot, Emma dropped it. "Oops." She picked up the carrot. "Can I still give this to him or…"

"Emma, he eats grass when given the opportunity, I think he'll be okay with a carrot that was on the floor for a few seconds."

"Oh right." Emma tried again and made sure to keep still when Rocinante went to take the carrot. This time she didn't drop it and she got excited. "I did it!"

Regina smiled. "Nicely done." Rocinante started nudging Regina with his nose, looking for more carrots.

They spent another half an hour with Rocinante and then Regina took Emma on a small tour around the stables before heading back into the city. When they got back to the coffee shop parking lot, Emma didn't get out of the car right away.

"Thanks, I had a good time."

"As did I." Regina smiled and asked, "Would you be interested in going out to dinner Tuesday night?"

"Yes!" Emma said a little too enthusiastically. "I mean… Yes, I would like to go out to dinner with you."

"I'll pick you up at 7:00?"

"Sounds good. Can you pick me up from the shop? I'll change! It's just easier." Emma didn't really like having people come to her apartment, it was a small studio and she wasn't exactly the cleanest person.

"Very well, then I will pick you up at 7:00 at the shop."

"Erm… What should I wear? I mean, is this, 'Don't wear jeans with holes or stains' or 'Wear a nice dress or nice pants and a jacket?'"

"The latter. I assume you have something to wear?" Emma nodded. "Excellent. I look forward to it."

"Me too." Emma said with a smile. "Well, I should get going, appointments and all. Thanks again, Regina. See ya!"

"Bye, Emma." Emma got out of the car and into her bug. Regina waited until Emma left the parking lot before following.

Emma walked into Big Bad Wolf with a wide smile on her face and Lacey was the first to see her. "Looks like someone had a good time."

"We're going out again Tuesday night. I touched a horse!" Emma said excitedly.

"Say that again because it sounded like you said you touched a horse and I thought it was just a coffee date," said Ruby, walking up to join the conversation.

"It started that way." Emma told Ruby and Lacey all about her date with Regina and next door, Regina was doing the same with Kathryn.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Tuesday night came around, Emma was a nervous wreck. Regina wouldn't tell her where they were going but given the dress code, she knew it would be a nicer place than she had ever been in before. Ruby and Lacey had both tried to help her relax but had been unsuccessful for the most part. Emma refused to let either of them help her get ready, but it didn't bother them too much because Granny was letting Emma get ready in her apartment above the shop. Ruby and Lacey would be able to run upstairs if they wanted and they would see Emma when she went outside. By some miracle, they left her alone after she told them she would be wearing her pink dress. Emma got downstairs with ten minutes to spare. The two customers in the shop did not stop Lacey and Ruby from whistling at her when she walked up front.

"Really guys?"

"I don't think you understand how excited we are that you're going on this date," said Lacey.

"Yeah Em, it's possible that we're more excited than you are. We were getting a little worried we'd have to start buying you cats." Ruby teased.

"Ha ha, you're both hilarious." Emma looked outside and saw Regina's Mercedes pull up. "Oh look, there's my date. See ya."

"Have fun!" Ruby and Lacey yelled in unison.

Emma got into the car and noticed Regina checking her out. In lieu of a greeting, Regina said, "You look beautiful, Emma."

"Thanks. So do you." Emma pointed to the clock on the dash, "Hey look, I'm on time!"

"Shall I stop for a lottery ticket on the way to the restaurant?" Regina asked with a playful smile.

"Hey!"

"You're the one who told me that five minutes late was early for you."

Emma huffed and crossed her arms, but only half seriously.

Unlike the ride to the stables, Emma was not a fan of the silence in the car and tried filling it with the first thing that came into her head. "Do you have any pets? Rocinante doesn't count."

"And why not?"

"Because he's a horse. I'm talking house pets, like a dog or cat."

"No, I do not."

"Not even a fish?"

Regina shook her head, "Not even a fish. What about you?"

"But why not?"

"Too much work and mess."

"I guess that makes sense. You just kind of struck me as a cat person. I had a betta fish but it died, I have bad luck with fish."

Regina chuckled but before Emma could ask what was funny, they pulled up to the restaurant. Emma was right, it was the nicest place she'd ever been to.

"Regina, this is the best restaurant in town!"

"I know, that's why I brought you here."

"Don't they require reservations months in advance?"

"Not if you know the right people."

When the host saw Regina, he greeted her with, "Good evening Ms. Mills, nice to see you again."

Regina smiled, "And you as well."

"Your table is ready, if you would follow me please.". He led them to a table near the back that offered up some privacy. He held out Regina's chair for her and went to do the same with Emma but she had already sat down. "If you need anything else, Ms. Mills..."

"Thank you, Frederick." The host walked away and Emma was looking around the restaurant taking everything in when she realized something and her eyes got big.

"Your last name is Mills."

"Yes?"

"You took me to the best restaurant in town and you know the host's name."

"Yes…" Regina realized where this was going and started to worry.

"Your family is _the_ Mills family."

"Is that a problem?"

Emma looked at her with disbelief. "What the hell are you doing here with me?"

"Going on a date with a woman I'm interested in." Regina replied matter-of-factly.

"You own half the state."

"No, I own a house, a horse, and co-own a flower shop. My mother owns half the state."

"But when she dies, won't the money be yours?"

"Possibly. What does it matter?"

"It matters because you're way out of my league. You can date anyone you want."

"And I'm here with you. Now, will you be wanting wine with dinner?" Regina picked up her menu and gestured for Emma to do the same.

Emma opened her menu and her stomach dropped. There was nothing on the menu in her price range and she felt uncomfortable with Regina spending so much on her. "Oh... Um... Not tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... I'm just going to get something small."

"Are you sure? They do some lovely veal dishes."

"Yeah… I'm not that hungry."

"Your stomach kept growling on the drive over." Regina put her menu down, "I asked you out tonight, I'm paying for it, please get whatever you want."

"I can't ask you to do that, it's way too much. I can't pay you back for that."

Regina took Emma's hand, "I didn't ask you to."

"But-"

"No arguing. I wanted to do this so please let me."

"Okay." Emma was still uncomfortable with Regina spending so much on her, but she'd find some way to make it up to her.

"Regina?"

Regina stiffened when she heard her name and looked up to see her mother walking towards her. "Oh I thought that was you!" When her mother got to the table, Regina stood up to greet her.

"Hello, mother. I thought you were usually here on Wednesdays?"

"Trying to avoid me, are you?" She asked with a very fake sounding laugh. She turned her attention to Emma. "Who's this?"

"This is Emma. My... friend. Emma, this is my mother, Cora."

Emma held out her hand to shake Cora's "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mills."

"Nice to meet you as well Miss..."

"Swan." Emma said, not noticing Regina shaking her head until it was too late. "Emma's fine."

Cora turned her attention back to Regina, not even acknowledging that Emma said something "Well I wouldn't want to interrupt your... evening. You're coming by the house tomorrow morning, correct?"

"Yes, mother."

"Very good. See you then" She gave Regina something that barely resembled a hug and gave Emma a small wave. "So nice to meet you."

When Cora was gone, Emma and Regina sat back down.

"So... that's your mother? _The_ Cora Mills?

"Yes."

"She seems...interesting."

"That's a word for it. I'll be having words with Frederick, I'm betting he told her we were here."

"Why is her knowing we're here bad? Does it have something to do with why you introduced me as a friend instead of your date?"

"It's just not good for her to know some things."

"Are you not out?" Emma wasn't sure why it didn't occur to her before now.

"It's complicated and there are some aspects of my personal life I don't need her to know and this is one of them."

"Are you ashamed?"

"I told you, it's complicated."

"Well then un-complicate it, Regina. I don't want to be some dirty little secret. I don't want to be someone you hide with in back corners because you don't want to be seen with me. That's not fair and I'm not doing it."

"That's not what I said," replied Regina, getting angry. "I have a complicated relationship with my mother and it's not her business."

"Then why are we in a back corner?"

"Because there are people I know here."

"Because you don't want to be out."

"It's not that simple."

"Yes, Regina, it is _that_ simple. Look, I like you, but I learned a long time ago that letting others decide who I was or how I was going to act wasn't worth it. It sounds like you need still need to figure that out and until you do, I don't think we should see each other." Emma threw her napkin on the table and stood up to leave.

"Emma, wait! At least let me take you home."

"I'll grab a cab. Goodnight, Regina."

Emma walked out and Regina was left at the table wondering how that night could have gone so wrong so fast. Regina took out her phone and called Kathryn.

"Uh oh. What happened?"

"Why do you automatically assume that something happened?"

"Because you've only been at the restaurant for like 15 minutes."

"My mother happened."

"But she goes there on Wednesdays! What was she doing there tonight?"

"I don't know. I have a feeling Frederick might have told her."

"No way, he wouldn't do that. It was probably the chef. Or maybe just a coincidence."

"My mother showing up the first night I've had a date in years? Some coincidence."

"So what did she say?" Regina explained everything to Kathryn and when she finished, Kathryn was silent a few moments and then said, "Please don't get mad at me for saying this, but Emma kind of has a point. It's not fair to treat her like a dirty little secret."

"I know."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know."

Regina pulled up outside her mother's house at 8:00 on the dot the next morning. Cora took her into the living room and handed her a cup of tea.

"So who was that you were having dinner with last night? Bit fancy, wasn't it? Who were you trying to impress?"

Regina sighed. Her mother knew the answers to those questions. "A friend. Her name is Emma. As I told you last night, Mother."

"She didn't seem happy to be referred to as a friend. Were you on a date? Because I thought we talked about this."

"Talked about what?"

Cora sighed. "You know what. This. This dating women phase you were going through. I thought we talked about it and agreed you were done with this experiment." She said "experiment" like a dirty word.

Regina tensed up and balled up her fists as a reflex to her mother's words. Cora didn't notice, for once, or was just pretending not to. "WE did not agree on anything, Mother, you sent me away to make me straight and then you tried cutting me off, and when that didn't work, you tried arranging dates for me. You made decisions for me with no regard for how I felt about the matter."

"But what about Daniel? He was such a nice boy."

"Don't you _dare_! Don't you dare talk about Daniel! Don't you dare act like you approved of me and the 'help!'" Regina was fuming. "You only like Daniel now because he was the one and only boy I loved."

"Don't you take that tone with me. I don't deserve your disrespectful tone. I've only ever done what's best for you."

"I think you're confusing yourself with Daddy. HE did what was best for me. Not you. I don't know why I even bothered to come today." Regina gathered her purse and coat. "Goodbye Mother" and walked out of the house. It didn't take long for Regina to figure out what she wanted to do.

Regina headed to Big Bad Wolf, stopping on the way to purchase two bear claws and a coffee. Cora had tried calling her several times, but Regina ignored it every time. When she got to the shop, Lacey gave her a somewhat frosty greeting, "If you're looking for Emma, she's with a customer." She gestured to Emma's station, where Emma was talking to two women. Regina noticed that the blonde one was leaned in very close to Emma, giggling at something she said. They shifted slightly and it looked as if Emma was holding the blonde's hand. Emma said something else that made the woman laugh and winked at her. Regina started to get angry, here she was trying to apologize and Emma was flirting with a customer. How unprofessional. Regina was feeling played and stormed out of the shop, letting the door slam shut behind her. She threw the coffee and the bear claws in the trashcan outside.

When she walked into Game of Thorns, Regina went straight into the back office, and slammed the door. She had barely gotten to her desk when there were several urgent knocks on the office door.

"Regina? It's Emma, let me in!"

Regina's anger flared up again and had to stop herself from responding.

"I don't want to talk to the door, Regina!" Emma knocked a few more times before Regina heard a loud thud, which she assumed was Emma sitting down against the door. She was silent a couple minutes. "Are you going to tell me what that was about? I kinda can't sit here all day, I have appointments."

"By all means, don't keep your _clients_ waiting."

"The hell is that supposed to mean? What did I do to piss you off so much? Besides not wanting you to hide who you are?"

"Why don't you ask the blonde you were flirting with?"

"OH MY GOD, Regina! Open the damn door!"

"It's unlocked, Miss Swan."

"Oh." Emma opened the door and walked into the office with her arms crossed. "Why do you care if I'm flirting with someone? We went out twice, if last night counts, and it didn't exactly end well. Also, I wasn't flirting with her, I don't flirt with my customers."

Regina scoffed, "It sure looked like it from where I was standing."

"What you saw was me showing a client what the tattoo she wants on her wrist would look like. I also made a few jokes to make her feel more comfortable because getting a tattoo is a little scary for some people."

"Oh." Regina felt stupid for her assumption.

"Yeah. Now, I'm assuming you stopped by the shop for a reason. I meant what I said last night."

"I know. I saw my mother this morning and I thought about what you said."

"And…." Emma didn't want to get her hopes up yet.

"You were right. Doing what my mother wanted has never worked out well for me and when it comes down to it, I'd rather be myself with her out of my life than under her thumb. I'm sorry for treating you like something I was ashamed of." Regina stood up and walked around to the front of her desk, so that there wasn't anything between her and Emma. "I was hoping you'd be interested in trying again."

"No back corner?"

"No back corner." Regina promised.

"Yes." Emma impulsively moved closer to Regina and stopped herself when she was inches away. "Um… Can I…"

"You don't have to ask." Regina pulled Emma to her and kissed her. Both women melted into the kiss. When they pulled apart, red-faced and slightly out of breath, Regina said, "I've been wanting to do that for weeks."

Emma gave her a cheesy grin, "Weeks? I think I've been wanting to do that from the day I first saw you." Regina smiled and tightened her hold on Emma again. "I really hate to ruin the moment, but I really do have someone waiting for me to tattoo them."

"Oops. Sorry, dear." She released Emma reluctantly. "Is Friday okay?"

"I think so. I'll let you know for sure tonight or tomorrow morning. See ya!" Emma got three steps towards the door when she stopped and turned around, walking back to Regina. "Almost forgot something." She gave Regina a quick peck, causing her to smile, and then walked out and over to Big Bad Wolf.

Kathryn came into the office a minute later and Regina was still smiling and hadn't moved from the spot. "Everything alright?"

"We have a date on Friday. Help me plan."

Kathryn smiled and launched into the various options Regina had.


	6. Chapter 6

Friday morning, Regina hadn't told Emma where they were going, she had just told her casual dress was fine. Emma was losing her mind not knowing, she wasn't too big on surprises and Regina's last "surprise" didn't exactly end well. Emma had gotten Regina to agree to let her drive. Despite having a full schedule, the day dragged on and when 5:30 came around, Emma practically bolted out the door and towards her apartment. She had a clumsy moment and managed to spill ketchup on her pants during lunch, so she had to change. She drove back to Game of Thorns and parked out front at 6:10, 10 minutes later than she was supposed to meet Regina.

Regina was waiting outside, looking very impatient. Emma rolled down the window, "I'm so sorry! I had to run home and change and it took a lot longer than I thought considering I live less than 10 minutes away." She started to get out of the car but Regina waved her off and got in.

"It's quite alright. You did warn me that you being on time was an anomaly." Regina buckled herself in and looked at Emma expectantly. "Shall we go?"

"Sure, but you still haven't told me where we're going."

"Oh right. Sorry, dear. I figured we'd do dinner and a movie, or more accurately, a movie and then dinner."

Emma smiled, "Sounds good. So which theater?"

"Do you know the one on main?"

"The actual, theater – theater? Not one of the movie theaters?"

"Yes. Every month they do a Silent Movie Night. They show an old silent movie and one of their pianists plays the music to fit it. It's quite fun."

Emma would usually be the last in line for anything involving a silent movie, but it did sound interesting and it wouldn't hurt to try it out. If nothing else, it was time spent with Regina, which Emma generally enjoyed. "That sounds kinda cool." Emma pulled away from the curb and drove to the theater. They could have walked but it was a little chilly.

When they got to the theater, Regina bought both tickets, despite Emma's attempts to buy her own. They walked in and Emma noticed there was only half a dozen other couples. "Um, what time does it start?"

"6:30."

Emma checked her watch and noted it was 6:29, "There's like no one here."

"Did you expect a large turnout for a silent film?"

"I guess not." They found seats right as the movie started. About halfway through, Emma had started absent-mindedly trailing little circles on Regina's arm and hand.

Regina leaned over and whispered, "If you want to hold my hand, just do it."

Emma smiled and took Regina's hand, then shushed her. "I'm trying to watch the movie." They went back to watching the movie.

When the movie ended, Emma had to admit that she enjoyed it. "You win, that was fun. Who knew?"

"I'm glad you had fun. There's an Italian place nearby, would you like to go there for dinner?"

"Tony's?" Regina nodded, "Yeah! I love that place."

Regina took Emma's hand and lead her out of the theater. They walked hand-in-hand to Tony's and were grateful to see there were tables available. This time, Emma was greeted by name when they were seated. Tony, the owner and head chef, had seen Emma walk in and came to give her a big hug. He offered them a bottle of wine on the house and didn't take no for an answer. When he walked away, Emma explained that she and Ruby had practically tattooed his whole family. Regina was impressed and found herself asking Emma about her tattooing and some of the favorite tattoos she'd done.

"Honestly? I can't choose. I've gotten the chance to make some cool sleeves. I did this one with different Disney characters, it was a lot of fun. But I also like doing tribute tattoos and awareness ribbons and stuff. I _hate_ doing tribal tattoos." At Regina's confused look she added, "Oh you know the ones, they got really popular? Mostly just dude bros getting tattoos they don't understand." Emma looked around the restaurant and saw a guy with a tribal band on his arm. She pointed at him, "Like that."

"Yes, that was an unfortunate trend." Emma nodded in agreement. The waiter came by and took their orders and when he walked away, the two continued their conversation about tattoos. By the time their food came, Emma was trying to explain to Regina that they didn't hurt that bad.

"You have a small one on your wrist, I can't imagine that compares to a larger tattoo."

"Oh now you're the expert?" Emma teased through a large piece of ravioli.

Regina made a face but didn't say anything about Emma's lack of manners. "Well no, I'm just saying."

"Maybe you should let me tattoo you so you have first-hand experience."

"No."

"Just a little flower or something hidden?"

"Maybe someday."

"Really?"

"Probably not."

They finished their meals in a comfortable silence and when the check came, Emma and Regina both reached for it. Emma grabbed it first but Regina held her hand out for it.

"You paid for the movie."

"I asked you out, Emma. Besides, I didn't get to buy you dinner on Tuesday. So please, give me the check."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Emma handed over the check, "Thank you." Regina put her credit card in the folder and held it out for the waiter, who was passing the table.

"Can I take care of the tip?"

"Sure" When Emma took out her wallet, Regina added, "Next time" and Emma grumbled.

The waiter brought back Regina's card with the receipt and they left. Once again, they walked down the street holding hands.

"Thank you for dinner, Regina. And the movie."

"My pleasure. Thank you for accepting my apology."

"Of course. I'm sorry if I was a little harsh."

"You weren't."

They reached Emma's car and Emma made a show of holding the door open for Regina, making her laugh.

"I didn't get to earlier!"

"Apologies. Thank you for getting my door, Emma."

"You're welcome." Emma shut the door on her jacket, "Dammit!"

Regina was still trying to stifle her laughter when Emma got into the car.

"Glad I could provide amusement," Emma deadpanned as she started the car and drove back to parking lot behind Game of Thorns and Big Bad Wolf. They both got out of the car to say goodnight. Emma didn't hesitate to go in for the kiss this time and they started making out on the hood of Regina's car, only stopping when a noise from a passing car startled them apart.

The next day, Emma's appointments started right when the shop opened, so she didn't get a chance to stop by Game of Thorns. However, when she walked into work, there was a coffee cup and a violet at her station. When she saw the flower, she rushed to put it in her vase with new water.

Emma knew she wouldn't get a chance to thank Regina for the flower and coffee in person because she had back to back appointments, so she sent her a text. Regina quickly responded and the two kept texting throughout the day. Ruby and Lacey teased Emma every time she received a text because she got a goofy smile on her face. By the end of the day, they had plans to see each other again the next Saturday. Regina asked Emma if she'd like to have dinner at her place one night and when she told Ruby and Lacey, they started teasing her again.

"Someone's gonna break her dry spell," Ruby sang as they were cleaning up.

"Someone's still too chicken to call Ashley," Emma retorted, shutting Ruby up for the rest of the night.


	7. Chapter 7

In the week leading up to Saturday, Emma and Regina had slightly adjusted their routine. On days Emma had early appointments, Regina would bring her coffee and/or a bear claw with a violet. On the other days, Emma would bring Regina coffee and draw little characters and stuff on the cups. Emma drew a small caricature of one of their regulars that had Kathryn and Regina laughing so hard they had to go in the back and hide the cup from customers.

Emma was surprised when Regina didn't stop by the tattoo shop Saturday morning. Emma had stacked her appointments and come in early because she was only working a half day but hadn't seen Regina at all. When Emma took a break to grab something to eat, she stopped next door. She didn't see Regina and made a beeline for Kathryn, waiting for her to finish with a customer before approaching her.

"Oh, hey Emma! Didn't think I'd see you today."

"I just had to run out for lunch and I figured I'd stop by. Is Regina here?" Emma asked hopefully.

Kathryn gave her a confused look, "No… She took the day off. Something about having fired her cleaning person and needing to take the day? I thought she texted you."

Emma pulled out her phone and saw that she had accidentally muted it earlier. She had a text from Regina apologizing for missing their "meeting" that morning. "She did. Stupid phone goes on mute with the lightest touch." Emma shrugged. "While I'm here… Does Regina have a favorite flower or anything?"

Kathryn thought hard for a couple minutes and looked around the store. "You know what? I have no idea."

"How do you not know? You're her best friend and you own a flower shop with her?"

"Why did it take you this long to ask?"

"Touche... Are roses too cliché?"

"For Regina? Probably not, she enjoys the classics. Do you want me to put something together for you?"

"That'd be awesome. Can you have it ready around 4:30?" Kathryn nodded. "Great, thanks!" Emma left and made a mental note to do something for Kathryn as a thank you.

She returned to Game of Thorns at a quarter to five and Kathryn brought out a beautiful bouquet of different color roses. "Thank you so much! How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, Kathryn, really?"

"Really. I won't take your money for these." She held out it out for Emma to take. "Just remember that Regina is my best friend and if you hurt her, I will come for you." Kathryn said in a serious tone that Emma had never actually heard her use before, it was a little scary.

"I won't."

"Good."

"Thanks again. Next tattoo is on the house!" Emma yelled out as she left.

When she got home, Emma rushed to her closet to try to find something to wear, cursing herself for not doing it earlier. She pulled several options out of her drawers before sending a text to Ruby that just said, "Help me!"

Ten minutes later, Emma heard a knock on the door and rushed to open it. Ruby was standing on the other side with a big grin on her face. "I think that's the fastest you've ever gotten to the door. You were standing right next to it, weren't you?"

Emma didn't answer and pulled Ruby into the apartment, not letting go of her until she was over by Emma's bed. "Did ya pull out your whole wardrobe, Em?"

"No! I don't know what to wear!"

Ruby stopped herself from laughing, "Well, you're just going to her place, right?" Emma nodded. "And are you expecting to spend the night?" Emma shrugged. "You're hopeless! What exactly did she ask you?" Emma found the text message on her phone and showed it to Ruby. "Um yeah, I would make sure you're prepared to not get any sleep tonight. Which means that whole pile over there is out." Ruby pointed to another pile, "We're gonna have to talk about those clothes another time. Where's the stuff you bought last time we went shopping?" Emma pointed to one of her drawers and Ruby rolled her eyes. Ruby pulled out clothes and threw them at Emma.

"I'm already wearing underwear."

"I don't care, go change." Ruby picked up a pair of Emma's dark skinny jeans, and threw them at her too. "Throw those on while you're at it."

Emma changed behind her partition and was standing in front of Ruby five minutes later, getting a good once-over. "Sooo…?"

"I think Regina's going to want to rip those off the second you walk in the door. You definitely could have done that yourself, why did you have me come over?"

"Nervous and I didn't want to end up leaving with my shirt on inside out or something."

"You did that once, didn't you?" Ruby asked with a grin.

"Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?"

"Because it's fun." Ruby shooed Emma towards the door, "Now get outta here." They left the apartment and Ruby started walking back to work.

Emma got in her car and punched Regina's address in her GPS. " _You'll arrive at your destination in 20 minutes,"_ an automated voice said.

Emma looked at the clock on her dash, it was already 6:15 and she was supposed to be at Regina's at 6:30. "Shit"

When the GPS told her she had five minutes until her destination, Emma started looking around. She turned into a neighborhood that was full of very expensive houses and started to get uncomfortable. " _Your destination is on the left."_ Emma pulled up to a very large, white house that Emma was more comfortable calling a mansion. She tripled checked the address to make sure it was correct, grabbed the bouquet and walked up the front walk. She rang the doorbell and when the door opened, she had an apology ready.

"I'm-"

"Late and sorry. I know." Regina gestured to the flowers, "Are these for me?"

"Oh. Yeah. Hope you like them." Emma handed Regina the bouquet and Regina brought it up to her nose to smell them.

"I love them, thank you. Roses are my favorite, you know."

"They are?"

"I know… it's incredibly cliché of me, especially since I'm a florist, but I've loved them since I was a little girl." Regina started to walk into the house but Emma stayed in the doorway. "You can come in. Do you mind getting the door?"

Emma stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind her, "You know, I don't think you can call this a house, it's more like a mansion, it's huge."

Regina laughed, "If you think this is big, you should see my mother's house."

Emma gaped and asked, "Bigger than this?"

"By a lot. Would you like a tour? Dinner's about ready but I can show you the house after."

"That'd be great." Emma followed Regina into the dining room, where there was two plates already set with a bottle of wine out.

"Please take a seat."

"Can I help with anything?"

"No, no, I've got it. Please sit." Emma followed Regina's direction and watched her bring in the food and a vase full of the flowers Emma brought her. "Do you like lasagna?"

"I love it."

"Great! It took me a while to perfect this recipe, I hope you like it." Regina sat down and gestured to the food, "You first."

Emma heaped a large portion of lasagna onto her plate and took a piece of garlic bread before passing it to Regina. Emma wasted no time in digging into the lasagna and almost let out a moan because it was so good. She made sure to swallow everything in her mouth before saying, "This is the best damn lasagna I've ever had," making Regina beam.

They carried a light conversation throughout dinner, Emma was trying to avoid talking with food in her mouth, as she was prone do to. When they were both finished, Emma insisted on helping with the dishes. Emma had gotten halfway through washing them when she broke a wine glass and Regina told her to just leave the dishes.

"How about that tour, Emma?" Emma nodded and let Regina lead her through the house. It took 20 minutes to get through the entire house and that was without going through some of the rooms. For someone who lived alone, Regina had a lot of space. They went into the living room and sat on the couch in front of the fire place.

"So how'd you end up here? I mean, it's not near the stables and its twenty minutes away from where you work?" Emma asked.

"My father set aside a large fund for me and bought me the house before he died. It belonged to his parents and I guess he wanted it to stay in the family. He made sure my mother couldn't touch any of the money or the house. I know it's large, and I don't use most of it, but I can't bear to sell it."

"Well it's a beautiful house, so I understand why."

Regina stood up and walked over to the bar, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Sure. Whatever you're having is fine." Regina made two drinks and walked back to the couch, handing one to Emma. Emma took a sip and then put her glass down, "Thank you." Emma was at a slight loss for something to say or do. "Soo…"

"I don't have any expectations for this evening, Emma. If you'd just like to talk, we can. If you want to watch a movie or something, we can do that, if you're not interested in staying very long, you won't offend me if you leave." Regina looked at her flirtatiously and added, "If you'd like to go upstairs and let me give you a tour of my bedroom, we can do that too."

Emma gave her a flirtatious smile in return, "Well it would be rude of me not to finish my drink, but after I think I'd like a tour, maybe starting with this couch."

When Emma opened her eyes the next morning, she groaned and shut them quickly, pulling the sheet up over her head. Light was filtering into the bedroom, something she was unaccustomed to, there was a damn good reason she made sure she had a west-facing apartment. She groaned again and started feeling around. The bed was empty and she cautiously poked her head out from under the sheet to see if she was alone. Regina was nowhere to be seen or heard. Memories of the previous night started flooding Emma's mind and she smiled, then frowned. It had been amazing for her, but what if Regina felt differently and that was why she wasn't there when Emma woke up? What if this was Regina's subtle way of telling Emma to see herself out? Emma started to panic and sat up to look for her clothes when she saw the note on the night stand next to her. She picked up the note and read it with a smile, " _Didn't want to disturb you. Come downstairs_." Emma put the note down and gathered the sheet up. She tried wrapping it around herself but was unsuccessful and was looking for her clothes when she saw the robe on the chest at the end of the bed. Emma put the robe on and went downstairs to find Regina. She found her in the kitchen making breakfast. Emma walked behind Regina and wrapped her arms around her, snuggling Regina's neck and peppering it with light kisses. "Morning."

"Good morning dear."

"That was some tour."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Maybe after breakfast, we can take another?"

Emma groaned, "I wish, but I have a consult first thing."

Regina turned around and held Emma close to her. "You can be late." Regina leaned down and started kissing Emma's neck, smiling when she heard Emma moan. "Can't you?"

"Not fair."

"Who said I was fair?" Regina switched to the other side of Emma's neck.

"I guess I can be a little late." Regina stopped kissing her. "Heyy!"

"After breakfast!" Regina resumed cooking the scrambled eggs and Emma hovered with her arms crossed.

Emma and Regina were both very late for work and Emma had to reschedule her consult.

In the months leading up to August, Emma started spending enough time at Regina's to earn her own drawer and a key, but neither woman had actually acknowledged that she'd practically moved in. She stopped bringing Regina coffee in the mornings, because they drove in together most days, but Emma did spend her mornings in Game of Thorns before Big Bad Wolf opened. If the store wasn't too busy, Regina liked teaching Emma more about some of the flowers; their meanings, origins, even the best conditions to grow them in. Despite spending years getting flowers from Moe, Emma never actually remembered the meanings behind most of them.

One of the times they were walking around, Emma pointed to a lily and said excitedly, "I know what this one means!"

"Oh really? What does it mean?" Regina asked, amused.

"The lily means, I dare you to love me."

Regina smiled and contemplated her reply, "Actually, it doesn't."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't actually mean that, they made it up for the movie." Regina looked at the sad look on Emma's face, "Is that what you want it to mean?"

"Yes..."

"Then that's what it means. Flower meanings aren't concrete, they change from person to person. It's what makes them so beautiful." Emma had stopped walking and was just looking at Regina. "What is it?"

"I love you." Emma said quietly.

"What was that?"

Emma pulled Regina into an embrace and whispered "I love you" in Regina's ear.

Regina beamed and pulled Emma into a kiss, "I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

The weekend of the Boston Tattoo Convention, Regina had made plans to join Emma and Ruby at the convention on Saturday and Sunday, to help them at the booth. Emma had originally told Regina she wasn't expecting her to stop by at all, let alone stay at the booth, but Regina insisted on going. Regina wanted an opportunity to really watch Emma work and to learn more about the process. Emma had been trying to tell her but it really needed to be shown and Regina hadn't gotten a good opportunity when she went to Big Bad Wolf during work hours. Regina also wanted to be there for Emma, it was her first convention and she was nervous. Friday went without a hitch, Emma and Ruby passed out about half the business cards they brought with them and they each had full tattoo schedules.

Saturday morning, Regina and Emma argued over whether or not heels were a good idea for a convention that involved a lot of standing or walking around. It took 20 minutes for Regina to give in and put on a shoe that didn't have a heel. They got to the convention hall after August and Ruby, mostly due to the shoe fiasco, and Ruby gave them a hard time about being late.

"You know, in polite society, it's nice to let people know when you're running late."

"Well _someone_ wanted to wear a pair of four inch heels."

Regina let go of Emma's hand and to put her hands on her hips, "Don't be ridiculous, they were only three."

Ruby snorted and then realized that they were serious, "You had to talk her out of wearing heels? I thought you were just late because you were having sex and just didn't want to admit it this time."

"What do you mean this time?" Regina rounded on Emma, "Do you tell her about every time?"

"She usually just assumes."

Regina rolled her eyes and gestured to the booth, "Is there any setting up to be done or are you all finished?"

Ruby shook her head, "Nope, we just wait until people come in."

Emma and Regina got behind the table and Emma introduced August and Regina, and the group talked for another half an hour until people really started filling the hall. Soon enough, five Big Bad Wolf regulars came by the booth for tattoos and their schedule quickly filled up. Regina stayed and watched until all five people were done. Regina loved watching Emma work, she was more concentrated then she'd ever seen her and Regina could tell that Emma loved what she did. Regina took a walk around the hall and was surprised to see tattoo artists from all over the country, including one from California. She took the time to look at their portfolios and had to keep explaining that she wasn't looking to get a tattoo that day. Regina chose not to tell them that she had no current plans for a tattoo and the only person who would be tattooing her is her girlfriend. When she returned to the booth, Emma was tattooing a large back piece that took the rest of the day.

Sunday morning, Regina had to stop at Game of Thorns before the convention, so they drove separately. Emma thought that it was Regina's way of telling her that she was bored the day before but Regina insisted that she enjoyed the day before, she just had some work to do. Before Regina left the shop, she took a few tulips with her, it had been a while since she gave Emma flowers and she wanted to do something nice.

When Regina arrived at the convention hall, it was already packed with people and she struggled to get to the booth. Emma looked unhappy, but perked right up when Regina gave her the flowers.

"Wait, what do these mean again?"

"Well… originally it symbolized hopeless love." Emma was about to speak but Regina cut her off, "More recently, it has come to mean cheerful thoughts. However, I kind of like the idea of combining the two. How does hopelessly in love sound?"

Emma grinned, "Better." She looked around and stole a kiss. "Look at you, playing with flower meanings, you big sap."

"Don't make me wish I hadn't," Regina joked.

"Well aren't those just lovely," said a voice behind Regina that made her immediately stiffen. Regina turned, hoping that she was just hearing things, and tensed up even more.

"Mother? What the hell are you doing here?!" Regina hadn't talked to Cora since she walked out of her house months ago.

"Well, you weren't returning my calls and haven't come to the house, how else was I supposed to reach you?"

"You weren't," Regina said through gritted teeth.

"Well that's not very nice, I'm your mother, I taught you better." Cora chided. She turned her attention to Emma, "Miss Swan, it's nice to see you again."

There was a big difference between the way Regina said "Miss Swan" and the way Cora said it and she didn't like it one bit. "It's just Emma. It's nice to see you too." Emma hadn't even tried for a pleasant tone. "I'm surprised to see you here, knowing how you feel about tattoos."

"That's exactly why I had to come. I came to bring Regina home."

Emma and Regina both yelled, "What?!"

Cora focused on Regina, "It's obvious that you're not going to end this little fling yourself so I've come to do it for you. People like her," Cora gestured to Emma, who was getting angrier by the second, "Are beneath you. You are a Mills, you need to start acting like it. I thought the 'gay thing' would be the most disappointing thing you've ever done, but this is worse."

Regina was shaking with fury and opened her mouth to speak but Emma beat her to it, "Look lady, I don't know what your problem is, but you need to leave. Regina obviously doesn't want anything to do with you and she's an adult who can make her own decisions."

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Yeah, and I don't care. Right now, you're the person who terrorized the woman I love for most of her life and made her feel like there was something wrong with her. If you don't leave Regina alone, I will make your life a living hell."

Cora laughed, "What are you going to do? You don't have the means."

Emma smirked, "You're right, I don't have the means to do something like take over your business or something. But there's more than one way to take someone down and you wanna know a secret about tattoo artists? We know how to network, word of mouth is how we make our money and we generally take care of our own. I've seen the way you talk to people, I'm sure you've got employees who wouldn't be upset to see your reputation go to hell." Emma leaned in, "I'm not just talking about lower level employees either." Emma saw a flash of fear cross Cora's face.

Regina had been watching the exchange in shock. "I think you should leave now, Mother."

"When this goes poorly, I won't be there, Regina. I'm cutting you off." Cora said with a regained calm.

"I haven't touched your money. I don't want anything to do with you."

"So be it." Cora turned and stormed out, pushing people out of her way.

Regina took a few deep breaths and felt Emma wrap an arm around her.

"Are you okay?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

Regina turned so she could look at Emma and hold her better, "For standing up for me. Nobody's ever really done that before."

"I thought you might be mad at me," at Regina's questioning look, Emma added, "For getting in the middle of a family matter."

"Emma, you are my family." Regina leaned in for a kiss but was stopped by an "Aww" and a catcall from the people around them.

Emma was speechless and the only thing she could do was look at Regina with all the love she had.

Emma had been planning the perfect proposal for weeks. She had enlisted Kathryn, Ruby, and Lacey for help and managed to keep it from Regina. It helped that she was able to do some stuff at her apartment and leave it there, she spent most of her time at Regina's. Ruby had made some jokes about U-Hauling but Emma ignored them. She had known since the first 'I love you' in Game of Thorns. She decided that she wanted to take Regina to the Botanical Gardens and propose there, it just felt right. There should be spots that were secluded enough to give them privacy and it was public enough that Kathryn and Ruby could be there. Unfortunately, Granny wouldn't let Lacey go because she still needed someone to man the phones and Granny hated talking on the phone. Emma decided to do it the Saturday after the tattoo convention.

Saturday morning, Emma awoke to breakfast in bed, courtesy of Regina and she almost started panicking, thinking that Regina knew what was happening later that day. Emma was so nervous she forgot that Regina liked making breakfast for her one day every weekend.

"What are we doing today? You still haven't told me."

"You'll see."

"Not even a little hint?"

"I'm driving."

"Do we have to take your death trap?"

"What's wrong with my bug?"

Regina crossed her arms, "Do you not remember the hubcap?"

"That happens to everyone once or twice!"

"No it doesn't. Can I drive?"

"We'll take your Mercedes, but I'm still driving."

Regina huffed, "Fine."

"I promise, it'll be fun."

Emma's original plan involved going out for breakfast, but Regina cooking worked out just as well and they were still on track to get to the stables when she wanted. Despite taking some extra time to thank Regina properly for breakfast.

They were ten minutes away from the stables when Regina started asking questions again. "Why are we going to the stables?"

"I thought it'd be fun to see Rocinante. We haven't been in a while."

"Not since you fell off and vowed never to ride a horse again."

"Oh I'm still sticking to that, but that doesn't mean you can't take him out."

When they got to the stables, Emma was happy to see that Kathryn had stopped by and dropped a picnic basket off in the small office in the stables. Emma waited until Regina had walked ahead of her and dipped into the office to grab it.

"So I was thinking that we could go on a picnic. I remember you telling me that there are a few trails around that lead to some nice spots."

Regina raised an eyebrow, "Where did you get the picnic basket?"

"Had it stashed somewhere. So do you wanna?"

"Of course."

Regina saddled Rocinante up and ran him around a few times before returning to Emma. "Ready to go?"

"Just point the way."

"Are you sure you don't want to ride?"

"Positive, I have no interested in bruising my ass again."

"Suit yourself."

They were on the trail for about 20 minutes when they came up on a small clearing that had a trash can and a place for tying up the horse. Emma found a nice spot and set everything up. She made a mental note to thank Kathryn for putting a blanket in there. Emma and Regina had fun feeding each other fruit. They took their time just enjoying the good food and each other's company. Regina had tried to talk Emma into taking advantage of the fact that they were alone, but Emma pointed out that with the horse chilling several feet away, they weren't really alone. Emma would have loved to spend the entire day out there with Regina, but she had a schedule to stick to and after an hour, she and Regina packed everything up and headed back.

"Is everything okay?" Regina asked her while she was untacking Rocinante.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because you seemed kind of in a rush to leave once you saw your watch. Where else are we going today?"

"You'll see." Emma said with a teasing smile.

When Regina was finished with Rocinante, and after a brief argument about who was driving, they left the stables.

Fifteen minutes later, Emma parked in the lot for the Botanical Gardens and Regina smiled. "What are we doing here?"

"Well I know you've been wanting to go here and I thought it'd be nice. Emma got out of the car and Regina followed suit.

"First the lovely picnic and now a trip to the Botanical Gardens? What have I done to deserve this?"

"I love you and I wanted to do something nice," Emma pulled Regina in for a kiss, causing another smile to form on Regina's face.

"I love you too. Shall we go in? Or just canoodle in the parking lot?

"Did you seriously just say canoodle?" Emma asked and she walked towards the entrance.

"I did. Is that a no?"

"How about we not get kicked out of another place?"

"If you insist."

Emma and Regina followed the same path Emma had several days before. She had gone to the Gardens to scout out the perfect spot to propose and Emma and found it near the tulips. When Emma and Regina got close to where the tulips were, Emma saw Ruby and Kathryn there, as instructed. Regina hadn't noticed them yet. Ruby was taking pictures and Kathryn had her hands behind her back. Emma drew Regina's attention to a butterfly in the opposite direction from Kathryn and Ruby. Emma waved them forward a little bit so she could get Regina closer to them before she started the little speech she had.

"Umm… Regina?"

"Yes?" Regina was still looking at the butterfly.

"Let's go over here." Emma took Regina's hand and led her over to the tulips. When Regina saw Ruby and Kathryn, she gasped.

"What are you two doing here? Emma?"

Emma took Regina's hands. "They're here 'cause I asked them to be. Because there was something I wanted to ask you." Emma could feel her palms start to sweat and she had to wipe them on her pants. "I know we haven't been together long and this is probably really crazy but I haven't felt like this with anyone before. I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone and I was wondering…" Emma took a ring out of her pocket and got down on one knee, taking Regina's left hand in hers. "Regina Mills…"

Emma gestured to Kathryn, who pulled out the banner she had been hiding behind her back. The banner was covered in drawings of the various flowers that Emma had purchased from Game of Thorns and some that Regina had given her. "Will You Marry Me?" Was written in the middle of the banner.

"Yes!"

"Yes?"

"Yes! I'll marry you!" Emma put the ring on Regina's finger and Regina pulled Emma up on her feet and into a kiss that was so full of love, they thought they would burst.

 **Five Years Later**

"Are you ready?" Emma asked Regina, holding up her tattoo gun above Regina's hip.

"Yes."

"Are you sure about this?" Emma asked for the millionth time. "Cause this is permanent and I don't want you to realize you didn't actually want this."

"Oh my god, Emma, just tattoo your woman! Or do you want me to do it?" Ruby asked, sitting next to Regina and playing with a toddler.

"I'm just making sure!" Emma replied defensively. Turning her attention back to Regina she said, "Alright babe, this might hurt a little."

The tattoo took about 45 minutes and when it was done, Regina had two simple flowers on her hip; an aster like the one Emma picked up the first time she went into Game of Thorns, and a yellow tulip. Emma cleaned up the area and applied ointment. "There we go, all finished." She pulled Regina up out of the chair and had her face the mirror. "What do you think?"

Regina took a long look at it before saying, "I don't know, I think the color's off." At the look on Emma's face she said, "I'm kidding dear. It's beautiful. Thank you." She pulled Emma into a hug and gave her a quick kiss.

"Come on, the woman gives you a great tattoo and all you do is give her a quick peck? Booo" Ruby stood up with the toddler, "Come on Henry, let's see what Aunt Kathryn is up to." She walked out of the shop, leaving Regina and Emma alone.

"She was right you know, that was a pretty lame kiss" Emma said with a smirk.

Regina raised her eyebrow, "Oh really?" and pulled Emma in for a more passionate kiss that left them both breathless. "Better?"

Emma nodded. "Better. Love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed my fic, please review! Also, check out the other SQ Big Bang fics!


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